Former President Goodluck Jonathan has lamented the abandonment of key projects he initiated as Governor of Bayelsa State, blaming successive administrations for failing to sustain his development agenda.
Speaking on Wednesday at the inauguration of the Best Western Plus Hotel in Yenagoa, Jonathan said he had begun several hotel projects, to attract tourism and investment to the state before he became Vice President in 2007.
He noted that those projects were left unattended after he left office, describing the trend as a major source of waste in governance.
“When a governor leaves office, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, and most of the money spent goes to waste,” Jonathan said.
The former president recalled that his administration had invested in the hospitality sector to make Yenagoa more appealing to visitors, especially during the Africa Movie Academy Awards, which Bayelsa hosted at the time.
“During the first AMAA event, most of the international guests stayed in Port Harcourt because Bayelsa had no suitable hotels,” he said. “So we supported local hoteliers with loans of N10m to N15m to upgrade their facilities, but after I left office, nobody refunded the money, and the initiative died.”
He added that his government had also awarded contracts for the construction of three major hotels, including the Tower Hotel and two three-star facilities, which were never completed.
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